CLEEVE ABBEY

 Now don't get confused, but Cleeve Abbey isn't in Cleeve, it's in Washford. It's another of the Cistercian Abbeys that King Henry VIII had destroyed, but Cleeve is a little unusual, in that, whilst the church was razed to the ground, the rest of the monastic buildings were left intact for the use of the local Lord.

The original name of the abbey was Vallis Florida (Valley of Flowers) but it later became known as Cleeve Abbey after the nearby village
The cloister buildings including the gatehouse, 15th century refectory with its glorious angel roof and 13th century heraldic tiles have survived remarkably intact.

the gatehouse. Above the entrance arch is an inscribed panel in Latin. This translates as 'Gate be open, shut to no honest person'

the angel roof of the refectory. It is supported by trusses that divide it into bays. The main trusses are supported by corbels, each decorated by an angel holding a shield. At the base of each truss there is a large projecting angel.

Below, the entrance to the Chapter House. A chapter house is where the monks meet daily to discuss Abbey business.

Unusually, there's a rose window in the sacristy, instead of high up on the end nave wall. Probably because the sacristy doubled as an extra chapel.  Although the sacristy is one of the best preserved parts of the abbey, the window has lost all of its medieval tracery.

the intact cloisters - the large arch on the right, is the laver, where there would once have been basins for the monks to wash before entering the rectory.